Demonstrators attack Obama's 'socialist' reforms

Carol Wolf, Washington

Tens of thousands of protesters carrying signs saying Obama = Socialism and Keep Government out of Health Care, descended on Washington to oppose government spending and the rising US budget deficit.

Demonstrators, wrapped in American flags, holding banners and wearing shirts condemning President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, expressed disapproval of plans to overhaul the US health-care system and place a cap on carbon emissions, as well as of the bail-out of companies.

Protesters descended on Washington, some carrying placards lampooning President Barack Obama as a Che Guevara determined to take the US down a socialist path. Photo: AFP

''This tax-and-spend government wants to limit our freedom and erode people's rights,'' said Leonard Starr, 65, from Richmond, Virginia. ''We're building a giant bureaucracy headed to fascism using untruthfulness and lies.''

Mr Obama and congressional Democrats are trying to extend coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and rein in health-care costs that account for about one-sixth of the US economy. The overhaul would cost $US900 billion ($A1040 billion) over 10 years.

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The protesters filled Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House and marched towards the US Capitol on Saturday.

At a near-simultaneous rally in Minneapolis much like the ones he held during his campaign, Mr Obama encouraged supporters to pick up the telephone and knock on doors to gather backing for health-care reform.

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Mr Obama said the US had never been closer to overhauling health care and promised to fight back against opponents and special interests working to defeat the effort.

''This is when the special interests and the insurance companies and the folks who think, you know, this is a good way to bring Obama down, this is when they're going to fight with everything they've got,'' he said. ''This is when they'll spread all kinds of wild rumours to scare and intimidate people.''

At the Washington event, Michelle Barker, 38, carried a sign depicting Mr Obama as the Joker, a villain in Batman movies and comic books. ''That's who's going to be treating us instead of doctors,'' she said. ''The Joker and the Government.''

Jeremy Batterson, 40, passed out pamphlets with a picture of Mr Obama sprouting a Hitler-like moustache. He said the President was trying to insert a provision into the health-care bill to perform euthanasia on the terminally ill and senior citizens.

The Washington rally was organised by members of the Tea Party Patriots group and the National Taxpayers Union, among other conservative groups, and promoted by Fox News commentator Glenn Beck.